Abstract:A magnetoelastic
(ME) platform coated with a bio-molecular recognition element (bacteriophage)
for selective and specific recognition of Bacillus anthracis spores is
described. As a wireless sensor, the resonance frequency of the ME sensor
decreases in response to the binding of target biological species, which enables
the possibility of real time and in vivo bio-detection. In this work,
fabrication parameters, such as annealing temperature and phage immobilization
condition, were investigated to optimize the sensor. In addition, the detection
strategy was studied to further improve the performance of ME sensor. It was
found that annealing at 200-250 °C in a vacuum oven can
effectively increase the ME platform's stability, Q-factor. Based on the
sensor response and SEM results, a phage concentration of 1×1011 vir/ml
and a salt concentration of 420 mM in 1xTBS provide the best sensor performance
in terms of binding sensitivity. The feasibility of multiple-sensor detection
was also demonstrated.